Oral Report
by sopaltenbass
Summary: Asabi Goldstein presents her History of Magic report on the Battle of Hogwarts.


**Title:** Oral Report

**Author:** sopaltenbass

**Beta:** None

**Disclaimer:** 1. This is a work of fan-fiction. 2. No money is made on this work. 3. JKR retains her rights. 4. Thanfiction retains his portions.

**Rating:** G/K

**WIP/Length:** Complete/614

**Main Character(s):** Asabi Goldstein, Neville Longbottom

**Warnings: **None.

**Spoilers: **DH, _Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness_ by Thanfiction

**Summary: **Asabi Goldstein presents her History of Magic report on the Battle of Hogwarts

**Author's Notes: **One of my entries for the Whose Fic, Edition 2 contest on DAYDverse which took place on April 17, 2010. Prompt (_Next Gen kid giving a report on the Final Battle_)issued by rena_rules. Asabi Goldstein is Thanfiction's OC. She is the adopted daughter of Anthony Goldstein and Li Su-Goldstein.

**

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Oral Report**

Asabi stood nervously at the front of the History of Magic classroom. Why were there so many people here? This wasn't the first time these kinds of reports had been done. Surely the novelty had worn off by now? But there were an inordinate number of other professors in the room. Maybe it was due to Professor Binn's hands off approach to teaching. He assigned them these kinds of things, requiring an oral presentation and then proceeded to not pay attention at all. Maybe the other professors were there to tell him if the students had gotten it right or not. Asabi noticed Professor Longbottom standing inconspicuously at the back of the room and felt her stomach tie itself into yet another knot.

_He_ was here. He'd know if she got something wrong. What would he say, if she did? She was family, albeit adopted family, to people who had fought in the battle after all. She of all people should have her facts straight. And she did...didn't she?

What was she worried about? She was a Ravenclaw, just like her parents had been. She had been sure of herself before she knew that so many people would be here, so she plunged in.

Asabi explained about why Harry Potter had come back to Hogwarts, and why it had been there that the Final Battle took place. She explained about the role the DA had taken in the defense of the school. She talked about Colin, realizing as she did so, that the ghost wasn't one of the many crowded into the classroom. She wondered if he'd heard too many of these reports to much care anymore, but surely that wasn't the case, with so many others still coming.

Asabi talked about the Sorting Hat. She explained what it had been and why and how it was used. Was it too much of a tangent? Surely not. None of her classmates had ever seen the thing. When she got back around to describing how the Sorting Hat had been destroyed, she glanced toward Professor Longbottom. He winked at her and she went on.

She talked about the DC as well. How many of them had come back to help fight the Death Eaters, and how many of them had fallen.

But when she came to the part of her report which dealt with the injuries people had sustained in the battle, she found she couldn't go on. It was too close to home to talk about the maiming of so many lives. Her parents would never be whole again because of this terrible day.

"Thank you, Miss Goldstein, that was very thorough." It wasn't Professor Binns who spoke. He appeared to have drifted off and was quite entirely oblivious to the fact that he had a class there at all.

Rather, it was Professor Longbottom who said the words as kindly as he could. Asabi returned to her seat just as the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson.

"Miss Goldstein, could I speak with you for a moment?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"Yes sir?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you did very well, up there. Your parents should be proud."

"Thank you sir."

"Give them my regards, won't you."

"Of course sir."

Professor Longbottom smiled at her and said, "I'll see you in class, Miss Goldstein."

Asabi walked off to her tower dormitory in a state of shock. Professor Longbottom had thought her report was excellent. Asabi smiled and dashed up to her room to write her parents a letter. She had survived the Battle of Hogwarts, just as they had, if not quite in the same sense.


End file.
